Article distribution apparatus for conveyers



June 8, 1954 L. KANDRA ET AL ARTICLE DISTRIBUTION APPARATUS FOR CONVEYERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1953 5 W W N N mm? wQ m m 2 W wM A LJ 6/ 6 W Y J B ..@..0 w A: a 1 ud \J mm \J r \n U4! N h Ni x 1 vm l K.-- Uh H O 0 FA! m I am UN 1 N 0N lflk Gm NU 0U June 1954 L. L. KANDRA ET AL 2,680,509

ARTICLE DISTRIBUTION APPARATUS FOR CONVEYERS Filed June 5, 1953 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 8, 1954 UNITED s'rA'rEs lAT-ENT OFFICE ARTICLE DISTRIBUTION APPARATUSFOR CONVEYERS Lawson L. Kand'ra and JamesR. Pope, Merrill, Oreg.

Application June 5, 1953, SerialNo. 359,823 Claims. (Cl. 1'98 '30) This invention relates to conveyor construction, heretofore used for distributing the articles over and more particularly has reference to means the width of the second conveyor may be disadapted to be associated with conventional conpensed with, with an attendant saving.

passage from a preceding conveyor. the first to the second conveyors with a minimum In many industries, the passage of articles from loss in elevation. This is of importance where a first conveyor to a second conveyor angularly the articles are subject to becoming bruised or related to said first conveyor is accompanied by damaged if required to move through free fall an undesirable massing of the articles on the secover a substantial distance. 0nd conveyor. This characteristic of angular- Another object ofimportance is to provide a ly related conveyors can be readily appreciated, transfer apparatus as described which will be so when it is borne in mind that the articles may be designed as to permit said apparatus to be mountdistributed uniformly over the width of the first is able upon a nv y r mbly s n tta hm nt conveyor. This being so, the articles, when movwithout requiring modification of redesign of ing off the first conveyor, will tend to align themsaid assembly, except perhaps to a very minor selves longitudinally of the second conveyor, extent.

rather than distribute themselves uniformly over Another object of importance is to provide the width of said second conveyor. transfer means as stated which can be linked to Massing of articles on a conveyor in elongated the first and second conveyors in such a manner heaps is undesirable, of course, where, for exas to permit the several rollers of the transfer apample, foreign material must be separated from paratus to. be driven simultaneously with said said articles during the movement thereof upon conveyors, from a common source of motive the conveyor. For example, it is customary, in power. potato harvesting operations, to pick or dig the Other objects will appear from the following angles to the first conveyor, for deposit in an the several views, and wherein: accompanying truck or the like. During the Figure lisatop plan View of aconveyor assemcupied entirely with distributing the potatoes umtional view taken from the left in Figure 1 formly over the width of the second conveyor, Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevational view thereby to permit other workers to remove said taken from the left in Figure 2; and

material. Figure 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of The main object of the present invention is to 40 the distribution apparatus and the conveyors asprovide, in association with first and second consociated therewith.

veyor of the typ illu trated a transfer ap- The reference numeral i0 is applied generally lengths with the rollers decreasingin length in a 5 noted that althou reason of this b f the articles falling from the first conveyor will vlces are 9mg used or conveying frmt Vege' with the prothe full width of the secondconveyor. in view ticularly the pr m d t t Q Ov the Width of this construction, the services of the worker of aconveyor, of relatively small articles'which acc ss normally would tend to mass upon the conveyor in elongated, longitudinally extending heaps.

In any event, in the illustrated example of the invention, the harvesting apparatus has a first or pick-up conveyor l2, said conveyor l2 extending in line with the direction of travel of the apparatus.

For the purpose of driving the pick-up conveyor 12, a shaft is is provided, said shaft extending from a suitable source of motor power, not shown, and being connected by a universal joint to a stub shaft geared to the shaft of a conveyor drive sprocket i6. Sprocket i6 is of conventional design, having radial projections engaging between the cleats or rods of the pickup conveyor.

The sprocket [B has its shaft extending transversely of the pick-up conveyor, beyond the other side of the pick-up conveyor, a sprocket I? being secured to said shaft. A chain 48 is trained about sprocket I1, and drives a sprocket 28 secured to a shaft 22 journaled on the conveyor frame and having idler rollers over which the pick-up conveyor is trained.

The shaft 22 has a sprocket 2A keyed or otherwise secured thereto, said sprocket 25 being rotated by the shaft 22 and havin a chain 26 trained thereabout. Chain 26 drives a sprocket 28, the sprocket Z8 rotating a main distribution roller shaft 36]. Roller shaft 3!} is disposed in parallel relation to roller shafts 32, as, 36, the several roller shafts being journaled in bearings mounted upon opposite sides of an open, rectangular framework 38.

The framework 38 is conveyor frame, beyond conveyor I2.

For the purpose of transmitting rotation to the shafts 32, 34, 36, sprockets All are secured to said shafts, and to the main roller shaft (Figure 3), a roller drive chain 52 being engaged by said sprockets 4B. A tension adjusting roller M is slidably mounted upon the framework 38, so as to hold the chain d2 under a selected amount of tension.

Secured to the several roller shafts 30, 32, 3 3, 36 are distribution rollers it. 48, 50, 52 respectively. As will be noted from Figure 1, said rollers are of different lengths, the rollers extending in parallel relation and being progressively decreased in length in a direction away from the pick-up conveyor H2. The rollers are extended transversely of the pick-up conveyor, and are so disposed as to receive potatoes P or other articles, as said articles fall from the discharge end of the pick-up conveyor.

For the purpose of driving a second conveyor to which the articles are to be transferred, a bevel gear 54 is secured to the main roller shaft 30. Gear 54 is in mesh with a bevel gear 56, the gear 55 being mounted upon a stub shaft for the purpose of rotating said stub shaft. Secured to the stub shaft to be rotated thereby is a sprocket about which is trained a chain 58 (Figure 3) said chain driving a sprocket 69 mounted upon a conveyor drive shaft 62. Drive shaft 52 rotates conveyor drive sprockets 54, a receiving conveyor 85 being in mesh with said sprockets Eli so as to be powered thereby.

The receiving or second conveyor 66, as shown in Figure l, is disposed at right angles to the first conveyor H. The particular angle defined by the respective conveyors can, of course, be varied,

fixedly mounted upon the one end of the pick-up 4 the right angular relationship shown in Figure 1 being illustrated purely by way of example.

It is important to note that the several rollers Q5, e8, 58, 52 overlie the second conveyor, beyond one end of the first conveyor, and have their free ends terminating in a line substantially bisecting the angle defined by the conveyors. In other words, the particular length of the several rollers, and the arrangement of the free ends thereof, is such as to cause the articles gravitating from the discharge end of the first conveyor to fall first to the longest roller 46. The articles then tend to move to the next longest roller 48, but roller 48, being shorter in length than roller 45, will receive only some of the articles, the remaining articles passing directly from the roller 46 to the conveyor 66, and being disinner side of said conveyor 66.

This arrangement continues, with the articles being passed over successively following rollers, some of the articles being dropped on to the second conveyor each time, in a manner effective to distribute the articles over the full width of the second conveyor.

By reason of this arrangement, the necessity of utilizing a worker for the sole purpose of distributing articles over the width of the receiving conveyor is dispensed with entirely, the distribution apparatus illustrated discharging this function efiiciently. The articles are thus disposed upon the receiving conveyor in such a manner as to permit other workers to grade, cull, or otherwise act upon the conveyed material, before said material is discharged by the second conveyor into a truck, wagon, or the like, not shown.

Of course, the arrangement can be employed to advantage in the distribution of various types of articles, whether said articles be fruit, vegetable, or manufactured objects.

It is considered to be an important characteristic of the invention that the arrangement is such as to effect the uniform distribution of the articles without subjectin said articles to free fall over a substantial distance. There is a minimum loss in elevation between the first and second conveyors, this being particularly important where easily bruised fruits or vegetables are being handled.

It is also thought worthy of note that although the several rollers are illustrated in a coplanar relationship by way of example, said rollers could be disposed at staggered heights, without departure from the spirit of the invention. This is considered to be sufficiently obvious as not to require special illustration herein.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a conveyor assembly the combination, with angularly related first and second conveyors, of a series of transfer rollers disposed to receive articles from the first conveyor before movement of said articles to the second conveyor,

said rollers being spaced different distances from the first conveyor and decreasing in length in a direction away from said first conveyor.

2. In a conveyor assembly the combination, with angularly related first and second conveyors, of a series of transfer rollers overlying the sec ond conveyor beyond one end of the first conveyor, so as to receive articles from the first con veyor prior to movement of said articles onto the second conveyor, said rollers being formed to different lengths, with the rollers terminating at one end substantially on a line bisecting the angle defined by the respective conveyors, thereby to distribute said articles uniformly across the Width of the second conveyor.

3. In a conveyor assembly the combination, With a pair of angularly related, first and second conveyors, of a series of parallel transfer rollers extending normally to the first conveyor and overlying the second conveyor, said series lying the second conveyor beyond one end of the first conveyor, said series extending over a substantial part of the Width of the second conveyor, the rollers of the series being formed to different lengths, with the several rollers being progressively decreased in length in a direction away from the first conveyor, said rollers hav ing one end terminating substantially on a line bisecting the angle defined by the conveyors, for distributing articles uniformly over the Width of the second conveyor.

5. In a conveyor assembly the combination, with angular-1y related first and second conveyors, of a framework mounted beyond one end of the first conveyor; a multiplicity of transfer rollers journaled on said framework and overlying the second conveyor, said rollers extending normally to the length of the first conveyor beyond said end of the first conveyor and being formed to difierent lengths with the rollers having one end terminating substantially in a line bisecting the angle defined by the conveyors; and means linking the first and second conveyors and the several rollers for joint driving thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

